Few teams want to face Cardinal Mooney football

The Cardinal Mooney football team is quickly becoming one of the premier programs in Florida, but that comes with a downside. 

Many teams didn’t want to play the Cougars this fall, which made scheduling a challenge for sixth-year coach Jared Clark. 

As a result, Cardinal Mooney will play teams from Tampa to Miami, and even one from Colorado. 

“We called, I think over 100 schools, and either they wouldn’t play us or their schedules were already full, or they couldn’t make it happen with travel,” Clark said. “We called a bunch of people and the ones who are on the schedule are the ones who agreed to play. We even had to go to Colorado and get one of the best teams in Colorado to come down here. It was a difficult job creating that schedule.” 

Cardinal Mooney, the 2023 1-Suburban state champion, has cemented itself as a state championship contender over the past two years.

Photo by Dylan Campbell

That was far from the case when Clark started in the spring of 2020.

The Cougars were coming off a 2-8 season and hadn’t won a state championship since 1972. 

It wasn’t an overnight rise to relevance. 

Cardinal Mooney went 2-7 in Year 1, 8-4 in Year 2 and 4-7 in Year 3 before its breakthrough state title in Year 4. 

This past fall, Cardinal Mooney had a legitimate chance to win a second straight state championship until it ran into Cocoa, the eventual Class 2A state champion, in the state semifinal round. 

Cocoa wide receiver Jayvan Boggs broke the Florida high school single-game receiving yards record in that matchup with 17 catches for 378 yards and three touchdowns.

“We have another offseason and a spring and summer, and we’re going to continue to get better,” Clark said. “We do a lot on defense, and hopefully if that situation arises again, and it will, there’s going to be good players, we’ll have an answer for it.”

Cardinal Mooney is already winning in 2025. 

The Cougars defeated Clearwater 21-7 and won 35-7 over Mitchell in a spring game jamboree at Clearwater High on May 22. 

Clark said he’s excited about players up and down the roster and on both sides of the ball, but had particularly high praise for his defensive line. 

That defensive front includes rising seniors Blake Roulund (30 tackles for loss, 10 sacks), Elijah Golden (29 tackles for loss, 10 sacks), Bryce Fulda (28 tackles for loss, nine sacks), Zackery Samuel Jr. (nine tackles for loss, three sacks in five games) and rising sophomore Tra’Vion Lester (19 tackles for loss, nine sacks).

Photo by Ryan Kohn

That group is getting a boost this season with the addition of rising senior defensive tackle Amani Armstrong, a transfer from Ocala Vanguard. 

“I think our D-line has a chance to be really good,” he said. “One of the things they did a really good job of this jamboree is they played together, held their gaps and controlled the line of scrimmage.”

A secondary will back that defensive front with some key playmakers. 

The Cougars are returning rising seniors Laron Foye (25 pass breakups, four interceptions) and Macaiden Brown (13 pass breakups, two interceptions) and Clark said rising senior Rymen ‘RJay’ Mosely has a chance to be a lockdown cornerback. 

The offense displays talent as well. 

Running back Connail Jackson (1,604 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns) is back for his junior season, along with rising senior receivers Kymistrii Young (626 yards and 10 touchdowns), Bo O’Daniel (420 yards and three touchdowns) and Mosley (171 yards and two touchdowns).

The only uncertainty is who will be the primary player taking snaps under center. 

Rising senior Devin Mignery led the offense last season with 1,637 passing yards and 22 passing touchdowns along with 1,199 rushing yards and nine rushing scores. 

However, rising junior Davin Davidson is impressive. Clark said Davidson threw for 313 yards and five touchdowns in the spring game jamboree.

“We’re discussing it,” Clark said. “We have two really talented quarterbacks and we’ll make a decision next year.” 

Regardless of what happens between now and the start of fall camp, Cardinal Mooney will feature a bevy of exceptionally talented seniors, and schedule creation might become an annual headache for Clark.